After months of
trying, South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma finally fired his finance minister,
PravinGordhan. The move was met with huge disquiet within the ANC, and a
predictably sharp drop in the value of the rand. Gordhan and his deputy were
replaced by two Zuma loyalists, both from the president’s home province of
KwaZulu Natal, and both without any deep financial experience. Other ministers
were also replaced, none of them by people of exceptional merit, writes SA
media.

Afar in USA,
President Donald Trump continues to make waves.
One bidder wants to cover
President Donald Trump's border wall with solar panels. Another suggests
building a wall large enough for a deck that would offer tourists scenic views
of the desert.In the competition to build the wall, traditional bids are
interspersed with more whimsical ideas.As Tuesday's deadline for bids passed, U.S.
Customs and Border Protection declined to identify bidders or say how many
there were, which is standard practice in government contracting. The federal
government expects to announce around June 1 which companies will be hired to
build prototypes.Designs must be able to repel pickaxes and sledgehammers for
at least an hour and be aesthetically pleasing from the north side.Trump's
multibillion-dollar plan promises potentially big profits but also risks
inviting a backlash from people who oppose the project.

Back home, MDMK
General Secretary Vaiko was on Monday lodged at Central Prison, Puzhal, after a
Metropolitan Magistrate remanded him to judicial custody in connection with a
sedition case slapped on him by then DMK government in 2010. In a bid to put pressure on the Chennai
police and courts to start trial in a sedition case pending against him since
2009, MDMK general secretary Vaiko surrendered before the court on Monday and
refused to apply for bail. This left the magistrate with no other option but to
remand him in judicial custody for a fortnight.The matter relates to the
release of Vaiko's book 'NaanKutramSattugiren' (I am accusing you), which is a
compilation of the MDMK leader's letters to the then Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh in 2009.The book was released at a function in Rani Seethai Hall in
Chennai in 2009 when DMK was in power. The Thousand Lights police slapped him
with the case for his 'seditious' speech punishable under Section 124(A) of the
IPC. The police completed investigation and filed a chargesheet in 2010. Since
then there had been no sign of trial in the case.

With the crucial
MCD elections less than a week away, Delhi Chief Minister has landed himself in
yet another controversy. According to media reports, the Delhi CM has sent his
lawyer Ram Jethmalani's bills amounting to Rs 3.42 crores for clearance to Lt
Governor Anil Baijal's office, hinting at a probable burden on the taxpayers in
Delhi. Union finance minister Arun Jaitley has filed a criminal defamation
complaint against Kejriwal for allegedly defaming him in the Patiala House
Court, while a civil defamation case was filed in the Delhi High Court.Coming
out in support of his client, Jethmalani, however, told ANI on Tuesday, “I
charge only the rich but for poor I work for free. He further stated that even now if the Delhi
govt doesn't pay or Kejriwal can't pay, he will appear for free and will treat
him as one of his poor clients.Kejriwal had employed a string of lawyers,
including Ram Jethmalani, who alone raised a bill of Rs 1 crore. According to a
report in The Times Of India, the bill raised by Jethmalani on 1 December,
2016, quotes Rs 1 crore retainer for representing Kejriwal and an additional Rs
22 lakh per appearance. He has so far made 11 appearances, which totals to Rs
3.42 crore.

The storm in social
media with people taking sides on reported notice sent by 'maestro Illayaraja
to SPB appears to have died down; but not the woes of SPB. Singing maestro S.
P. Balasubrahmanyam, who is currently in the United States, lost his bag
containing important documents such as his passport, iPads with his song
scripts, credit cards and cash. He posted on Facebook about the theft of his
bag.The singer is in the US for his SPB50 concert taking place across several
states like Seattle, Los Angeles, San Jose, Dallas, Kansas, etc. The exact
place of theft was not made clear in the post.He added that the Consul General of the Indian
Embassy in Houston took immediate action and he got a duplicate passport within
24 hours.

The immediate thought
that occurred is what would have been the reaction, if a high profile foreign
tourist had a similar experience on Indian soil and how the country could have
been painted ?